Education, From The Capitol To The Classroom

Stories about students: How does education policy affect the way students learn and grow? Can schools meet their needs as they balance ramped-up testing with personal changes and busy schedules? And are students who need help getting it?

Stories about educators: How are those responsible for implementing education policy in schools − from classroom teachers, to district administrators, to school board members − affected by changes at the top? And how well do they meet their challenge of reaching students with varying abilities and needs?

Stories about school assessment: With an increased push for 'accountability' in schools, what can test scores tell us about teacher effectiveness and student learning − and what can't they tell us? What does the data say about how schools at all levels are performing?

Stories about government influence: Who are the people and groups most instrumental in crafting education policy? What are their priorities and agendas? And how do they work together when they disagree?

Stories about money: How do local, state, and federal governments pay to support the education policies they craft? How do direct costs of going to school − from textbooks to tuition − hit a parent or student's bottom line? And how do changing budgets and funding formulas affect learning and teaching?

How We Did Predicting Indiana’s 2013 Education Storylines

December 26, 2013 | 7:45 AM

Gov. Mike Pence signs an executive order to create a new education agency focused on workforce development. The Center for the Education and Career Innovation has often been at odds with state superintendent Glenda Ritz and her department.

But there were other stories we didn’t see coming, such as the computer glitches that ground ISTEP+ testing to a halt in the spring.

And controversial teacher licensure rules known as REPA II didn’t end up going anywhere after all.

Next week we’ll look ahead at the education stories to watch next year. But first, let’s take a look back at the seven stories we told you to watch as 2012 drew to a close and tell you how they made headlines — if at all — in the past year.

Common Core — This time last year Indiana was on track to adopt the nationally-crafted academic standards and take new state tests in 2015. But backlash that began quietly in 2012 has been growing as bipartisan support for the standards has faltered. The Common Core no longer plays well with Republicans who fear the new standards will inject federal control in Indiana schools and lower the quality of instruction. Lawmakers agreed to suspend rollout of Common Core in the spring pending further review, leaving teachers unsure which standards to teach, as the pause legislation also requires the state to administer the ISTEP+ for another year. It’s typically up to the State Board to set standards for Indiana schools, though it’s likely if education officials try to keep the Common Core, state lawmakers will again try to exit the initiative.

Teacher evaluations — The 2012-13 school year was the first for state-mandated teacher evaluations in most school corporations. But computer glitches and controversy about the state’s accountability system delayed ISTEP+ scores until September and school letter grades until December, meaning some teachers are just now getting their ratings from last school year.

Private school students at a voucher-recipient school visit the Indiana statehouse.

School vouchers — Participation in Indiana’s expansive Choice Scholarship program again doubled in the program’s third year as more than 20,000 students sought vouchers to attend Indiana private schools. This year was the first the state didn’t put a cap on applications, and state lawmakers broadened eligibility guidelines to eliminate the requirement that students spend a year in public school first for some families. They also opened up the program to more students from schools that received an F in the state’s accountability system. Yet it’s worth noting non-public schools haven’t fared as well as public schools under the model state officials have used to calculate A-F grades for the past two years — fewer private schools are earning A’s than they once did.

Steven Yang / Purdue

Former Gov. Mitch Daniels, is now president of Purdue.

Mitch Daniels — The former governor made headlines in July when emails surfaced showing his dislike of radical historian Howard Zinn. But Daniels says he was talking about K-12 classrooms, not Purdue University, where he is now president. “Look who I was communicating with,” says Daniels. “I didn’t talk to anybody at the Commission for Higher Education or anywhere else. I simply was inquiring about the K-12 system and asking whether this false, misleading version of American history had found its way into Indiana classrooms.”